Woman charged after allegedly faking cancer for donations

An Ohio woman has been charged with felony theft after police say she posed as a terminal cancer patient to dupe donors into giving her thousands of dollars.

Fox News reports "Mindy Taylor convinced friends and her own husband and mother that she was dying of cancer. The problem is, she wasn't. It was all a lie."

According to The Columbus Dispatch, the 35-year-old mother claimed she was suffering from cancer of the small intestine, lupus and heart disease and was undergoing intense chemotherapy.

After hearing Taylor's story, a group of donors set up a YouCaring.com page to help raise money for her treatments. The page, called "Mindy's Army," raised more than $13,000.

And according to WBNS she reportedly got more than $7,000 in other donations from a spaghetti dinner fundraiser her mother put together in her hometown.

Taylor even kept a blog on CaringBridge.com that appeared to chronicle her struggles. A recent post read: "For those of you who don't know, last week was really hard for me. I pushed myself a little too much (shocking I know)..."

But it wasn't long before investigators caught wind of what they say was a scam.

WSYX reports police got an anonymous tip that Taylor had scammed donors out of more than $20,000 and was allegedly using the money for personal expenses. She was arrested and charged.

Taylor herself told WBNS she really did believe she had cancer and says she started returning the donations as soon as she figured out that she didn't have the disease. "I'll take the onus for whatever they want me to do. I'll do it. I'm not a bad person. ... I do want to clear my name."

But a Ross County prosecutor told The Columbus Dispatch he believes otherwise. "I think she's a hypochondriac and that she enjoyed the attention. Even now. Negative attention is still attention, right?"

Comments

"Taylor herself told WBNS she really did believe she had cancer and says she started returning the donations as soon as she figured out that she didn't have the disease. "

Oh please, did anybody really buy this garbage? If she never had "the disease" then she obviously never underwent intense chemotherapy, as she claimed. Let's see her try to wiggle her way out of that lie, too.

NOT excusing the woman's behavior on ANY level, but going a step further than what the investigator said is all. Munchausen Syndrome - which is a pathological need for attention that manifests in the person faking serious illness to gain attention. They have gone so far as to fake lab results, and go through highly risky medical proceedures to keep the illusion of illness alive. They thrive on the attention that people tend to give them. Here is the Mayo Clinic's definition http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/munchausen-syndrome/basics/definition/con-20031319 . It does not excuse it, but these people are VERY convincing and often fool even qualified medical professionals. Might explain how she managed to fool not only her mother, but her own husband as well.

Karissa, you may be right - she may be psychologically challanged in some fasion, whatever the cause. It is still wrong and she does need help probably on several levels. It still does'nt make it right. You could be on the right track - actually, I hope you are right. I hate to think that she simply did this on her own out of a desire to get $$ any way she could.

As I said it is absolutely NOT an excuse, I was simply stating that the people with that condition are very convincing. Convincing enough to fool trained medical professionals. Convincing one's mother and husband would be child's play next to trying to convince a physician to do an unneeded surgery. What she did was horrifically wrong, and I hope that she pays the price for it. So many were asking HOW she could fool her own mother, well - that condition right there is proof that many people have done it before.

I say the HOSPICE Idea is a VERY GOOD idea. Let her see upfront what she did was terribly WRONG, and make her donate her time caring for people with cancer. She's the type of person who ruins it for those who really NEED help.